CTA Sponsored Legislation Could Cripple Charter School Growth

February 8, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, California, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | No Comments

-By Larry Sand

The California Teachers Association can’t realistically unionize all charter schools, so it promotes laws that limit their numbers.

In Golden Missed Opportunity, recently published in City Journal, I examined the options that families in California have if they want to remove their children from failing public schools. The pickings in the Golden State are rather slim, and those options we do have — charter schools, homeschooling and the Parent Trigger — are constantly imperiled by a governor and state legislators who typically do the bidding of the California Teachers Association, the largest state affiliate of the National Education Association.

Charter schools are public schools which aren’t bound by the bloated union contracts that stifle so many traditional public schools. California has over 900 charter schools that currently educate about 400,000 students. To the union’s consternation, only about 15 percent of these schools are unionized. Of course, the union would like to see a 100 percent rate, but accomplishing that would take too much effort and money. Additionally, the flexibility that non-unionization offers is one of the attractions of charter schools for many teachers.

So instead of unionizing, CTA tries to eviscerate current charter laws or get caps on the allowable number of charters. At this time, there are three pieces of CTA sponsored legislation working their way around Sacramento. In fact, just last week the state assembly voted 45-28 to approve one of them, AB 1172. The bill, now in the Senate Rules Committee, was authored by State Assemblyman and former teacher and union activist Tony Mendoza. If AB 1172 becomes law, it would allow a school board to block the creation of a new charter school if it would have a “negative fiscal impact” on the school district. However, “negative fiscal impact” is never really defined, and California charter law already has clearly defined reasons why new petitions can be denied.
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Red Light Cameras: Government’s ‘It’s For Public Safety’ Lie

February 6, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Semitism, Budget, Cities, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Ohio, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Red light cameras are a mixed bag across the USA. Big cities love them, small cities increasingly less. But one thing is universal where ever they are tried. The whole thing is about revenue generation, not public safety. Most city administrations try desperately to hide their greed behind hoary claims of safeguarding the public, but at least Toledo, Ohio has dispensed with some of that subterfuge and is admitting straight out that making money is a main goal.

Last month Toledo’s finance director told the city council that they were installing 11 new red light cameras with the expectation that the project would “raise” $320,000. What did the city need that new revenue for? More government spending, of course.

Oh, and it’s for the children, too. Toledo Councilman Steve Steel was excited to get the new revenue. “It does restore the biggest thing we were looking for, which was giving kids something constructive to do in a positive atmosphere,” he crowed.

So, now officials will berate you if you stand against these useless devices that are just a means to give government more money to spend on pet projects because, darn it, it’s for the children! WHY do you hate kids, taxpayers?
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Getting Rid of Rats in Washington!

February 5, 2012 | Filed Under Dr. Don Boys, Washington D.C. | No Comments

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

I have long thought that the world is nuts, especially the world of Washington, D.C. Now I am sure. It seems Washington, D.C. has a rat problem. No, not that kind, the four-legged kind. Some of the rats are big as cats, so big that some homeowners are fearful of permitting their cats to confront the rats after dark.

Traditionally, rats have always been fearful of cats, but not these super rats!

Rats have infested some half-million-dollar homes and have been seen robbing bird feeders in daylight. Other homeowners have had rats come up in the commode from the sewer system. One family had that experience three times! That could mean a new experience when one goes to the potty, especially at night. While you dribble, dribble, dribble the rats can nibble, nibble, nibble.
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West Virginia Sheriff, Clerk Snared in Vote Fraud Investigation

February 4, 2012 | Filed Under Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Regulation, Vote Fraud, Warner Todd Huston, West Virginia | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

A Lincoln County, West Virginia Sheriff and Clerk are to plead guilty to charges of vote fraud in the 2010 Democrat primary after the pair were arrested during an election fraud investigation conducted by state and federal authorities.

Sheriff Jerry Bowman and Clerk Donald Whitten were caught in a scheme to file fraudulent absentee ballots in an effort to get Whitten elected Circuit Clerk. Whitten will also pled guilty to lying to an FBI agent hired by WV Secretary of State Natalie Tennant to investigate the false absentee ballots.

Sheriff Bowman, who is at the tail end of a second term and is term-limited from running again, conspired with Whitten and a thus far unidentified candidate for county commissioner to help Whitten win a close election with the fraudulent absentee ballot scheme.
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Jerry Brown and CTA: Testphobic Twins

February 1, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Los Angeles, Taxes, Teachers Unions | No Comments

-By Larry Sand

Children in the Golden State will get a better education when teacher quality becomes a priority

In perhaps the most in-depth study on the subject to date, three Ivy League economists studied how much the quality of individual teachers matters to their students over the long term. The paper, by Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia, tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years, and using a value added approach, found that teachers who help students raise their standardized test scores have a lasting positive effect on those students’ lives beyond academics, including lower teenage-pregnancy rates, greater college matriculation and higher adult earnings. (The authors of the study define “value added” as the average test-score gain for a teacher’s students “…adjusted for differences across classrooms in student characteristics such as prior scores.”)

The only caveat from the authors is that using test scores in teachers’ evaluations could lead to “teaching to the test or cheating.” Nothing new here. Some people, when involved in any kind of competition, will try to gain unfair advantage or cheat outright. Typically, it’s a small part of the population and those who do should lose their jobs and face criminal charges.

The lesson is clear: test scores can give us a great deal of information about who the really good teachers are. But California Governor Jerry Brown, unfazed by the blockbuster study, actually called for less testing in his recent State of the State address.
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OCCUPY GENIUSES (The Constitution vs. Southern Occupiers)

January 31, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, President, Socialism, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Washington D.C. | No Comments

Van Jones promised back in November that the Occupy gang will put up over 2,000 candidates for election in 2012. After AIM’s Ben Johnson did some man-on-the-street pop quizzes in the south this past week, we sure hope they come through on Jones’ promise. Ladies and gentlemen: we present to you the fruits of public school social studies programs.

In the meantime, is the Silliness Coming to an End? Occupy DC gets its eviction notice…

… naturally they are communists and anarchists.

PG&E Wants Higher Rates Even While Collecting Millions for Improvements Never Made?

January 28, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, Business, California, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Energy, Ethics, Government, Liberals, Los Angeles, Natural Gas, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Since the several disastrous accidents that claimed the lives of too many Californians, Pacific Gas & Electric has been fighting criticism over its dismal safety record. In response, the energy provider cried poor and said it needed billions for upgrades and repairs and wanted ratepayers to pay even more for its services. But a new report says that PG&E collected millions from ratepayers for repairs and improvements that it never actually made.

Early last year PG&E got a large rate increase, but by August the energy provider was at it again asking for an additional $2.2 billion for upgrades, repairs, and improving its explosion-prone delivery system, a cost to be born on the backs of the ratepayers.

This January, though, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) reported that PG&E has already collected half a billion dollars that was supposed to go to these repairs and upgrades yet the repairs were never made.
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Wisconsin School Punishes Christian Kid for Being a… Christian Kid

January 27, 2012 | Filed Under 1st Amendment, Anti-Americanism, Christianity, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Free Speech, Freedom, Government, Government, Corruption, Hate Crimes, Liberals, Liberty, Regulation, Religion, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Superintendent Todd Carlson of Shawano High School in Shawano, Wisconsin is sorry a student observed his First Amendment rights and had his article published in the school newspaper that denounces homosexuals adopting children. And so Superintendent Carlson is making amends by punishing this Christian kid for being so darn Christian. Superintendent Carlson has also decided in his infinite wisdom to censure this article by having it sent down the memory hole so that no one else will be confronted with this evil Christian’s views.

That’ll show that darn Christian kid, won’t it?

The article, “Should Homosexual Partners Be Bale to Adopt?,” was written by Brandon Wegner who was assigned the task of writing a counter-point to another student’s pro-homosexual adoption article. The piece was then published as an insert in the school newspaper, the Shawano Leader.

Shortly after the newspapers containing the insert were distributed, Superintendent Carlson issued a formal apology to the school and parents, removed the insert from surplus issues of the paper, and censured young Mr. Wegner claiming his article violated the school’s “anti-bullying” policy.
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A Visit to Title 18

January 27, 2012 | Filed Under 1st Amendment, Free Speech, Government, Corruption, Judges, Missouri, Paleo-Skeptic, Rights, The Law | 4 Comments

by Paleo-Skeptic

I plan on making good on every one of the claims that I made in my letter to the Senator.

For now, I want to take a look at the number of violations of federal law that 501 (c) (3) groups are allowed to get away with, simply on the basis that they happen to be “charitable organizations.”

In that letter to the Senator, I stated that there was:

• A government funding an NGO which operates to squelch constitutionally-protected political speech.

These would be some of the applicable federal laws:

§ 245. Federally protected activities

(b) Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, by force or threat of force willfully injures, intimidates or interferes with, or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with—
   (1) any person because he is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person or any other person or any class of persons from—
      (B) participating in or enjoying any benefit, service, privilege, program, facility, or activity provided or administered by the United States;

   (5) any citizen because he is or has been, or in order to intimidate such citizen or any other citizen from lawfully aiding or encouraging other persons to participate, without discrimination on account of race, color, religion or national origin, in any of the benefits or activities described in subparagraphs (1)(A) through (1)(E) or subparagraphs (2)(A) through (2)(F), or participating lawfully in speech or peaceful assembly opposing any denial of the opportunity to so participate—

This has to do with a man who had previously worked as a volunteer for two campaigns, one for governor and one for Congress, trying in vain to show the letters that he had received from those campaigns to a judge. The judge in this case was under the undue influence of an attorney from the 501 (c) (3) group, Ms. Katherine “Evidence Tampering” Wessling, who asserted on various occasions during the course of this same proceeding that this campaign volunteer was prohibited from engaging in Constitutionally-protected political speech.

Katherine “Evidence Tampering” Wessling and Legal Advocates for Witness Intimidation — Special Identity Theft Edition (with Wire Fraud Bonus)

January 22, 2012 | Filed Under Computers, Feminism, Government, Corruption, Missouri, Paleo-Skeptic, Society/Culture, The Law | No Comments

-By Paleo-Skeptic

Note: I am not an attorney. I just offer this exposition as the product of my personal research.

Today, I would like to talk a little bit about wire fraud and identity theft, and how they relate to the Federal statutes. In my own particular circumstance, I was a victim of witness intimidation (Title 18 § 1512, U.S.C.), being a party (a creditor) to a bankruptcy, where there were numerous efforts to impede any manner of lawful investigation of assets. This manner of fraudulent enterprise culminated in an abusive order of protection filing, which itself invoked Federal jurisdiction with the words, “Is a creditor in my bankruptcy,” contained in the original petition.

Why it is that the Family Law Courts would openly embrace and assist in the commission of Federal crimes is beyond me. I have no reasonable explanation for it.

So, let’s take a look at this, shall we?

We Finally Didn’t Rank as Worst: Chicago 14th Rudest City

January 20, 2012 | Filed Under Chicago, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ethics, Government, Illinois, Liberals, PCism, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston, Western Civilization | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Finally. Illinois isn’t coming in as the absolute worst of something. This time is is rudest American city as ranked by Travel and Leisure magazine.

Chicago did rank into the top 20 rudest cities, but the Windy City — apparently “windy” for all the yelling at people a’going on — slides in outside the top ten at slot 14. Not bad. Even some southern cities are supposedly worse than Chi-Town.

Here is what T&A says:

Chicago

Can these not-so-sunny midwesterners blame their demeanor on those frigid winters? If you want to get Chicagoans to warm up, try complimenting their city — by pointing out that you love their music scene or find their pizza much preferable to that thin New York stuff. Chicago ranked fourth for its glowing civic pride.

So, for a welcome change, Illinois has something going that doesn’t put us in the worst of the worst category. Finally!
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Indiana Democrats Fleebagging Again, Abandoning Their Jobs

January 19, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Ethics, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Indiana, Jobs, Liberals, Mitch Daniels, Public Employees Unions, Republicans, Right To Work, Senate, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Once again Indiana Democrats are playing the fleebagger game. Because they don’t have enough votes in the Indiana Statehouse, Hoosier Democrats are abandoning their rightful duties and fleeing the Capitol over Indiana’s right-to-work bill currently under consideration in Indianapolis.

Indiana Senate Bill 269 and House Bill 1001 would make it illegal to require workers in Indiana to join a union as a condition of being allowed to have a job. Allowing workers a choice seems like an inherently American idea, doesn’t it?

After all, how could anyone tell you that you must belong to a union or you’re not allowed to have your job? That sort of forced association seems so contrary to the American character. But forcing people to join unions just so that they can have a job is precisely what Indiana Democrats are fighting to protect.
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NEW SONG: I Stand With Walker

January 19, 2012 | Filed Under Music, Public Employees Unions, Scott Walker, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | No Comments

Glen Shulfer has a new song in support of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

You might remember Glen’s earlier song Union Man.

Legal Advocates for Abused Women— SLAPPs and Racketeering

January 17, 2012 | Filed Under Crime, Government, Missouri, Paleo-Skeptic, The Law | 2 Comments

-By Paleo-Skeptic

You would think that an organization with such a high-sounding name as “Legal Advocates for Abused Women” might be out doing some good in the world. Maybe they would be, if they actually cared about providing services for battered women more than engaging in racketeering and violating federal law. As it stands, it’s more of a model of the evils of centralization.

First, by removing community services away from the communities which they were intended to serve, those services become less and less responsive to the individual needs of the community. A “one size fits all” approach becomes the streamlined effort, whereas to engage in true thought lies beyond their means. This leads to heavy-handed measures where they are not warranted, and insufficient measures where they would be.

Secondly, centralization allows those service organizations to wield greater power, which naturally incentivize more precarious rent-seeking behaviors. The potential for usurpation, the “hostile take-over,” becomes greater, not lessened, due to the disproportionate influence at the upper rungs of the structure.

Here follows a portion from the transcript of Straussner v. Hart, Cause No. 09SL-PN03697, and Hart v. Straussner, Cause No. 09SL-PN03700, which were heard at the same time. Mr. Hart is here a creditor in a bankruptcy and, having been threatened by Straussner, who was using a fake name at the time, and Hart had received a previous Order of Protection with a finding of Stalking against Straussner under the phony name, Cause No. 09SL-PN02411, a few months earlier.

Mr. Straussner is represented here by Katherine “Evidence Tampering” Wessling, managing attorney for Legal Advocates for Abused Women and racketeer-in-chief, who has determined that Straussner was, according to their mission statement, a battered woman or child. That has a lot to do with why this organization, LAAW, is being investigated by various federal agencies, including the Office of a prominent Senator.

I will save the more appalling aspects of this for the end of the citations.
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Dana Loesch Replies to the Illinois Policy Institute’s Disinvite

January 16, 2012 | Filed Under Andrew Breitbart, Conservatives, Entertainment, GOP, Government, Illinois, Illinois Policy Institute, Media, Republicans, Talk Radio, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Today on her radio show, Dana Loesch told her audience about being disinvited to an event hosted by the Illinois Policy Institute over the weekend.

I detailed this story here: Appearance by Andrew Breitbart Employee Canceled By Illinois Policy Institute

Appearance by Andrew Breitbart Employee Canceled By Illinois Policy Institute

January 16, 2012 | Filed Under Afghanistan, Andrew Breitbart, Anti-Americanism, Conservatives, Democrats/Leftists, Foreign Policy, GOP, Illinois, Illinois Policy Institute, Marines, Media, Military, Policy, Talk Radio, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last Friday, The Illinois Policy Institute disinvited Dana Loesch, the editor of Andrew Breitbart’s Big Journalism site, from a breakfast event that was to be held over the weekend on Saturday.

The Illinois Policy Institute was holding the event in conjunction with the Independent Women’s Forum and Smart Girl Politics and was to be a “discussion on women, liberty, and America’s future.”

Loesch was disinvited due to a small controversy over what she said Friday on her Saint Louis-based radio show on KFTK 97.1 FM. Loesch took umbrage over those criticizing U.S. Marines that were filmed urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Loesch was incensed at those complaining about the conduct of our soldiers and went into one of her patented rants about how she didn’t care if our solders urinated on the corpses of our enemies. “I’d drop trou and do it too,” she said of the incident.

Loesch went on to say, “Do I have a problem with that as a citizen of the United States? No I don’t.”

During the rest of that Friday many progressive sites (like Politico) went after Loesch for her comments.

Loesch herself has said that the left’s attack on her is all unfair. “There is a difference in advocating for the Marines to break the law, which I didn’t do, and defending them from overly-dramatic hysteria,” she said.

Sadly, this faux controversy gave the Illinois Policy Institute cold feet for the weekend breakfast meeting and they told her she was no longer welcome at the event. Worse, the group never even made a public comment on the disinvitation. They just, in the dead of night, disinvited her.
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Every Year Boondoggles Pile Up in California

January 15, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, California, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Liberals, President, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The left-wing idea that it’s good for government to always wildly increase spending is dying a quick death these days. But this good sense has not made it to every state in the union yet — two disastrous states in particular; California and Illinois.

These two states have not learned the lesson about the ruinous government spending that is causing the country to teeter on the brink of bankruptcy.

Apparently, Illinois and California are vying for worst-state status. Moody’s Investment service, for instance, has rated Illinois the worst, but Standard & Poor’s says its California. But California has one thing that makes its fragile economic situation worse than Illinois. California’s penchant for economically ruinous ballot measures that create boondoggle programs that the taxpayers are forced to pay for is not rivaled by the common corruption endured by the citizens of Illinois.

The worst boondoggle currently forced on the people of California is the high-speed rail project that is already running billions over initial cost estimates even before the first foot of track is laid.
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Sneak Preview — The Sound of Music

January 11, 2012 | Filed Under 1st Amendment, Censorship, Feminism, Free Speech, Government, Corruption, Missouri, Music, Nanny State, Paleo-Skeptic, PCism | No Comments

by Paleo-Skeptic

I was directed by the Office of a prominent Senator to submit a full report with supporting documentation concerning the misdeeds of the 501(c)(3) organization, Legal Advocates for Abused Women, and their managing attorney, Katherine “Evidence Tampering” Wessling, who is also a member of the Board of Education of the non-accredited St. Louis Public Schools.

Exactly why it is so expensive to teach children to be unable to read when they naturally come out of the womb in this state is a matter outside of the scope of this report.

The following is a brief preview of the content of the first draft of that report, not blockquoted due to length.

————————§——§————————

Kelly Truth Squad is ON the Radio (And Yours Truly is the Cohost??)

January 10, 2012 | Filed Under Conservatives, Entertainment, Illinois, Kelly+Truth+Squad, Radio, Talk Radio, Warner Todd Huston, William J. Kelly | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

I’d like to announce my first official radio gig. Last week I started as the co-host of the Kelly Truth Squad on Chicago’s local station, WCEV AM 1450.

Our first show aired on Sunday, Jan. 8 (I didn’t write about it before because I wasn’t 100% sure that was the actual start date). You can hear the podcast here: The Kelly Truth Squad Radio.

The show is a two hour extravaganza made up of two segments. The first is an hour of discussion on national and local politics. The second is a showcase program of local charities and events Chicagoans need to know about.

The show is Mr. Kelly’s, certainly, but I am really enjoying being the “color” guy, the second banana. Kelly is such an outsized personality and it is fun to listen to him on the radio.

Now, some of you may be wondering just what the heck I’m doing? Warner with Kelly? Yep. I have to admit, being with Kelly, a political gadfly in Chicago to say the least, is great fun.

So, please check back at the podcast page every week to listen to what the William J. Kelly Truth Squad is up to, won’t you? If you are within the station’s signal, please do listen on the air On Sunday’s at 5AM, at AM 1450 on your dial.

NPR: Again Falsely Blaming Giffords’ Shooting on Uncivil Political Rhetoric

January 10, 2012 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Arizona, Congress, Conservatives, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Guns, House of Representatives, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, NPR, Tea Party, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

I suppose we couldn’t get past the one-year anniversary of the crime against Democrat Representative Gabrielle Giffords without some Old Media outlet blaming the supposed “heated” political rhetoric of the day for her shooting. On Sunday we saw NPR doing just that. The fact is, no matter how many times they say it, politics and the “heated rhetoric” thereof had absolutely nothing at all to do with Giffords’ shooting. The linking of the crime to politics is just not legitimate.

On this one-year anniversary, NPR’s Linton Weeks was all about the improvement of our “civil discourse,” and full of lament that it just isn’t happening. Perhaps it is a noble sentiment, but he marred that nobility by beginning his piece with a false allusion once again tying the Giffords shooting to the “political atmosphere” of the day.

“When a gunman opened fire on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords,” Linton wrote, “some people were quick to blame the episode on the overheated political climate.”

With that false allusion we also know what NPR meant to do. It meant to blame conservatives for Giffords’ shooting.

He went on to say:
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Mia Love for Utah!

January 9, 2012 | Filed Under Conservatives, Elections, GOP, Government, Republicans, Utah, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new candidate is hitting the scene in Utah. Her name is Mia Love, an African American running for the fourth Congressional District.

Mia’s Bio

Mrs. Love was born into a family of Haitian immigrants, she has deeply rooted values, love for this country, and guiding conservative principles.

Mia’s personal and professional life experiences, and her commitment to changing the reckless culture in Washington, have driven her to run for Congress. If elected, Love will become the first Republican black woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives.
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Albany Police Chief Slams ‘Occupy’-Supporting Councilmen

January 8, 2012 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Capitalism, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, New York, Newspapers, PCism, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston, Western Civilization | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff came in for heavy criticism by fans of the Occupy “movement” after he ordered the clearing of their downtown encampment pursuant to a court order. The arguments over the actions by police have raged since the December 23 conflagration with Chief Krokoff getting savaged repeatedly by the media and some city councilmen alike. But this week Krokoff confronted his critics and he wasn’t gentle about it!

The big criticism arose when officers used pepper spray when the Occupiers became violent. Since then several Councilmen, such as Anton Konev, have criticized the police saying that their actions were unnecessary. Konev, for instance, has announced that he has no confidence in the Chief and is angling to have him fired. Naturally, Konev has been an open agitator for and supporter of Occupy Albany.

But on January 6, Chief Krokoff came before the city council with a strong defense of his and his officers’ actions delivering a withering blast to some of the councilmen that have come to the defense of the lawless Occupiers.
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Hmmmm, Typo Hypothesis Claims Santorum Actually Won in Iowa?

January 5, 2012 | Filed Under Elections, GOP, Iowa, President, Republicans, Rick Santorum, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Did Mitt Romney accidentally get 20 extra votes because of a typo made in Appanoose County?

Ed True, a 28-year-old caucus goer in the town of Moulton, Iowa, says that he was at the caucus and on his notes Romney only got two votes in his precinct. Yet when he checked reported totals later it showed that Romney got 22 votes! He thinks it was a typo. Someone accidentally entered “22″ when they meant to type only one “2.”

The Iowa GOP says that Mr. True is not a party official and it will stand by its numbers as the full, final counting is underway. The certified count won’t be official for a week or two.

Still, it really won’t matter a whole lot. Whether Santorum lost by eight votes or won by ten or twelve is not really that relevant. The result is so close that it is nearly the same in delegate counts and what not.
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Sen. Roy Blunt— A Champion of the People

January 5, 2012 | Filed Under Congress, Democracy, Government, Missouri, Paleo-Skeptic, Republicans, Society/Culture | 1 Comment

by Paleo-Skeptic

First of all, a bit of disclosure:

I used to live in Tom Delay’s district.

And people there loved that man— loved him— and for good reason.

Anyone there could call Delay’s office concerning any matter of unresolveable conflict; and in most cases, with one phone call from that office, the matter would be taken care of.

I never contacted him myself— I had no need to. But I’ve known a number of others who have. These are real life instances:

• A woman caring for her elderly mother was concerned that the apartment complex where she lived was maintaining unsafe conditions. One call to Delay, and the matter was taken care of.

• A man borrowed money from his parents to have a new transmission put in his car, so that he could make it to work, and the new transmission went out. He felt the mechanic cheated him. One call to Delay’s office, and the matter was taken care of.

Now, I don’t know the details of those contacts or what arrangements were made; but from what I understand, all it took was, “I just got a complaint from one of my constituents about this. Is this true? … I don’t want to hear another complaint from any of my constituents about this, or I’m going to have to look into it further.”

And that was all it took.

No matter how high he rose in the Congressional leadership, Tom Delay always remained accessible to his people back home.

And they knew that, with a confidence.

And they loved him for it.

Rightfully so.

A Letter to the Senator

January 2, 2012 | Filed Under Government, Government, Corruption, Human Rights, Law, Missouri, Paleo-Skeptic, Rights | No Comments

-By Paleo-Skeptic

On the 26th of December, I directed an electronic communication to the Office of Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri using the form available from his website, received on the 27th of December.

Here follows redacted texts of those communications.

How Ron Paul Might Win Iowa and STILL Get No Hawkeye Delegates

December 31, 2011 | Filed Under Conservatives, Elections, GOP, Government, Iowa, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, President, Republicans, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Warner Todd Huston | 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

My friend Michael Bates has raised some interesting — if technical — points. He notes that Ron Paul could very will win Iowa but still come away with few or even no Iowa delegates. After looking over Bates’ points, I think he has it right. But one thing he said is really trenchant when he noted that journalists don’t bother to read the party rules of correlate past history to see if Paul’s win in Iowa would really mean anything at all.

But first, we should note that the winner of the Iowa Republican caucus rarely becomes president. Many others have noted that the Iowa caucuses don’t pick winners. In fact, over the last six GOP presidential contests, only one Iowa winner became president (George W. Bush). Two others won the caucuses in Iowa but did not win the White House (Bob Dole and Gerald Ford).

That aside, Bates makes some important points in the delegates process. He finds that Ron Paul might win a plurality in Iowa and still come away with no delegates. The most important point he makes is to remind us all that the Iowa Caucus is not a primary election. It is only a straw poll and what happens there is not binding. This is a point that the media almost never make.

As the popularity polls are telling us, Ron Paul is neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney with Santorum have a last minute surge. But this shows that Paul will not be running away with it all, here. This also means that his support will be spread all over the state in numbers that will not commandingly control too many districts. This leaves the door open for the other candidates to band together to prevent Paul delegates from getting any traction and just might result on Paul have few or even no delegates at the state convention.

As Bates has it:
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Mitt Romney: My Mass. Healthcare Plan Is ‘Fundamentally Conservative’

December 29, 2011 | Filed Under 10th Amendment, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, GOP, Government, Health, Liberals, Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, Obamacare, President, Republicans, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Romney did it again. On Fox News he linked Romneycare to conservative principles, an outrageous act in the eyes of any conservative. But hold the boat, people, because Romney didn’t exactly say that Romneycare itself is a conservative policy. And therein lies the weasel words that Romney has used to describe the Massachusetts healthcare plan he was so proud to pass when he was the Governor of the state.

To the video…

Transcript:

I’m happy to stand by the things I believe. I’m not going to change my positions by virtue of being in a presidential campaign. What we did was right for the people of Massachusetts. The plan is still favored there by 3:1 and it is fundamentally a conservative principle because the people take personal responsibility rather than turning to the government for free care.

Now, let’s look at what Romney said here. He didn’t exactly say that Romneycare itself is “fundamentally conservative.” He said the concept that people should take responsibility for their own healthcare is a fundamentally conservative idea.

Such as it is, he’s right. That IS a fundamentally conservative idea.

But as Romney has repeatedly done since he signed that disastrous, socialist, far from conservative piece of legislation, he has weasel worded his description of that law. As he’s done before, in this clip he illicitly linked conservative principles to Romneycare by focusing at a micro level on the single idea that we should take care of our own healthcare and linking that real conservative principle to his actions as if conservative principles are the guiding forces behind Romneycare. The problem with Romney’s characterization of the issue is that his legislation is fundamentally not conservative. It is big government, socialist, authoritarian nonsense. It’s not conservative at all. Romney tries to us that one tiny conservative idea buried under miles of socialist ideas as misdirection for the ills that Romneycare forces on the people of the Bay State.
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From a TV Show to a Fight for Campus Free Speech

December 28, 2011 | Filed Under 1st Amendment, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Free Speech, Freedom, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Liberty, The Law, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

This video, which features an interview with legendary author Neil Gaiman (famed science fiction, fantasy and comic book writer), is a lighthearted look at how the University of Wisconsin-Stout ended up being forced to back down from its oppression of the free speech of one of its professors.

Professor James Miller’s poster, one featuring a quote from the science fiction show Firefly, was considered by campus police and the school administration to be a “threat” to students because it had the word “kill” in it.

After the school torn the Firefly poster off the professor’s wall he replaced that one with a poster condemning fascism. The school tore that one down, as well, an Orwellian move if there eve was one.

Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen and other administrators stood by their actions until FIRE’s advocacy campaign on Miller’s behalf inspired Gaiman, along with Firefly actors Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin, to take to Twitter to encourage their millions of followers to contact the university with their support of free speech.

FIRE has started a contest that will award $500 to the best tweet to advertise their new video.
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Radical Islamic Nut Killed by Georgia Police

December 27, 2011 | Filed Under Crime, Georgia, Islamofascism, Jihad, Law, Police, Terrorism, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

In another case of sudden jihad syndrome one more nut has bitten the dust here in the good ol’ USA. But this one won’t be enjoying the traditional 72 virgins, well, unless she is a very uncommon Muslim, that is. Jameela Cecila Barnette was killed by a Cobb County, Georgia Police Officer on Christmas morning, no less, when she attacked him with a knife. Merry Christmas, indeed.

Barnette, 53, apparently a recent convert to Islam, was under indictment for threatening several lawmakers, one of whom is New York State Senator Greg Ball whom Barnette sent a rambling, threatening letter in a box with a stuffed monkey with Stars of David pinned to it.

The letter read in part:

it is apparent that you are the proud, dirty-white, goose-stepping, cross-bearing, flag-draped, Muslim-hating Christian ghoul marching to your own destruction,” agents said Barnette wrote in the letter. “I have included a gift for you, your own miniature Jew that you can worship in the privacy of your own home. I will be scanning the obituaries to read the end of your saga. Enjoy your brief and evil life of fairy tales and hokum your evil Jew masters created for you because the Hell-fire is your final destination and the final destination of all of your colleagues.

Democrats Playing Politics With Judges Again

December 26, 2011 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Judges, Law, Liberals, Media, New York, RightPundits.com, Senate, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

There was once a time when the courts were considered a place of staid scholarship and considered opinion. Those days have been gone for a long time as decades ago the courts became merely another avenue for Democrats to play politics not to mention a tool with which to install in America a left-wing agenda instead of a place to adjudicate the law. This week aged New Jersey Democrat Senator Frank Lautenberg gives us a prime example of the former that will inevitably lead to the latter.

In a move that surprised everyone in both New York and New Jersey, the decrepit Lautenberg submitted the name of New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer’s brother-in-law as his nominee for a federal judgeship in the Garden State. I say it came as a surprise because no one at all was aware that Schumer’s relative was even in the running until the nomination became public knowledge.

It smacks of backroom political deal making instead of a legitimate choice for the bench….

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.

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